Shattered Sanity

(Skill Selection Hall, The Imperial Academy, Riven’s POV)

Riven walked into the Skill Selection Hall and quickly found the Storm archives, where roughly ten other students were already browsing through the available spells.

Out of the entire batch of four hundred incoming First Years, it seemed as though only eleven possessed an affinity for Storm, making their section considerably emptier than most of the others.

’That’s fewer than I expected.’

Riven thought, as he stepped deeper into the Storm archives and began examining how the enormous collection of techniques had been organized.

The archive itself was divided into four distinct sections labelled Offense, Defense, Movement and Versatile, which Riven assumed described the primary purpose of every spell stored within them.

Each section contained several shelves arranged according to difficulty, with the highest shelves holding Tier Four spells while the lowest were filled with considerably simpler Tier Zero techniques.

However, since mastering a Tier One spell was the minimum requirement for passing the semester, Riven decided to ignore the bottom shelf for the moment and started to browse from the top instead.

’Let me at least start by reading the best offensive spells.

It might not be the technique I end up choosing, but there’s no harm in memorizing a few.’

Riven thought as he pulled the first spell that caught his attention.

[Heavenly Thunder Descent] (Tier 4)

The description claimed that the technique allowed its caster to summon a storm cloud that would constantly rain down thunder upon an area of effect for half an hour, devastating everything it touched, and explained how it could be used to destroy enemy fortresses, or war camps.

Riven stared at the description for several seconds before opening the accompanying manual, curious about what exactly separated a Tier Four spell from everything below it.

His curiosity lasted approximately three pages.

The opening instructions alone contained several unfamiliar principles concerning Aether compression, external circulation and maintaining multiple simultaneous pathways outside the Soul Vessel.

While further ahead were diagrams depicting increasingly complicated circulation patterns, alongside lengthy explanations regarding timing, discharge stability and controlling the point where the gathered Aether eventually manifested.

As although Riven read the manual in full, he eventually just let out a long sigh before closing it shut.

’Absolutely not.’

Riven thought, as although the idea of mastering a tier 4 spell and earning twenty merit seals sounded extremely lucrative, the reality of the situation was anything but.

Professor Jean had warned everyone that even the most talented Ascendants needed anywhere between four to ten years to master a tier four spell, and hence, Riven knew that he could not do it inside six months for sure.

However, the fact of the matter was that he did not even believe he could do it in 10.

’The Imperial Anatomist has changed my body, but what remains the same is my comprehension.

If training under Garron was any indication of my comprehension ability then I don’t think I’ll be able to master a tier four spell in under 10 years....’

’The best course of action for now is to learn a lot of spells fast, to make up for the deficiencies in my foundation, and for that the best choices are the tier one and two spells.’

Riven concluded, as he decided to skip the tier four and tier three spell sections for now, and instead moved straight down to tier two spell section.

[Lightning Bolt] (Tier 2)

Gather Storm Aether around the hand before releasing it towards a target in a concentrated discharge, providing moderate range and considerable penetrating power.

Useful.

Very useful, actually.

Riven currently had nothing capable of reliably striking an opponent from range, and so he decided to memorize the manual before moving on, as regardless of whether he finally chose it as his official selection, he decided to learn its contents for now.

[Thunderclap] (Tier2)

Release compressed Storm Aether through a sudden discharge, producing a violent burst capable of damaging and disorienting opponents within close range.

Riven memorized it quickly before returning it.

Sky-Cleaver already made close range dangerous enough.

If he was going to spend months adding something to his arsenal, he would rather cover a weakness than strengthen an area where he already possessed an advantage.

’It’s good but I should keep looking for things that I need immediately...’

Riven thought, as he memorized three more tier two offensive spells before finally moving towards the defensive section.

[Static Guard] (Tier Two)

Form a concentrated layer of Storm Aether around the caster, reducing the impact of incoming attacks while releasing a minor electrical discharge upon physical contact.

Riven stopped.

Tonight, he would be fighting Gary without any meaningful defensive technique whatsoever.

Circuit’s entire strategy relied upon Riven avoiding Gary’s Fireball and surviving long enough to damage his sword because they had no better solution available.

Something like Static Guard would immediately address one of the largest weaknesses in his current fighting style.

However, the spell still required him to receive the attack.

Riven memorized it before placing it back, as he then memorized a couple more defensive spells that had the same theoretical base before eventually moving towards the movement section.

[Lightning Step] (Tier 2)

Channel Storm Aether through the lower body to produce a sudden burst of acceleration across a short distance.

Riven read the description twice.

Movement was another glaring weakness that he currently possessed.

His reconstructed body made him naturally fast, but Gary possessed actual footwork and years of sword training, while Riven currently relied almost entirely upon physical ability whenever he needed to close distance or evade an attack.

Lightning Step could change that.

He could use it to avoid attacks, close distance or disengage.

More importantly, unlike a purely defensive spell, movement remained useful regardless of whether his opponent attacked him physically, magically or attempted to maintain distance.

Riven kept Lightning Step as a physical copy tucked under his arms, as unless he found something better, he intended to register it as his official choice.